Republicanism and rebellion in modern Ireland, c.1798-1922

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This course will explore the development of republican ideas and their impact in shaping a series of rebellions in modern Ireland, with particular attention on the reception of the American and French Revolutions, the rebellion of 1798, and the Easter Rising of 1916. We will consider the interrelationship of ideas and political action, with a focus on some key documents from the period.

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The successful creation of a new, republican, polity within the island of Ireland in the 20th century marked a major change in the political relationship between mainland Britain and Ireland. For centuries, Irish men and women had contested aspects of the British connection, but it was only in the late 18th century that republicanism emerged as a major oppositional framework for change.

This course examines the history of Irish republicanism as a system of thought as well as something which had significant implications for Irish-British relations in the late 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries. It will be based around a close reading of primary documents, allowing students the opportunity to delve into a world of radical political ideas, militant political activity, and terrible violence. Key topics will include the influence of the American and French Revolutions; the failure of the 1798 rising; the advent of Fenian terrorism, and the complicated history of the 1916 insurrection which contributed to the establishment of the Irish Free State in the 1920s.

The course will allow students to examine a long-standing crisis within the modern British Empire, and to challenge certain assumptions about the nature of Anglo-Irish relations in this period. While short lectures will introduce the subject of each class, this will primarily be a course of close reading and discussion.

Learning outcomesThe learning outcomes for this course are implicit in the course description and, for those who wish to write papers, in the essay questions which follow it. Students are expected to gain from this series of classroom sessions a greater understanding of the subject, and of the core issues and arguments central to the course.

The learning outcomes for this course specifically are:

1. To establish a strong foundation of knowledge about the history of Anglo-Irish relations in the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries;

2. To develop the ability to critically analyse and interpret this history and the way historians have approached this subject;

3. To become familiar with relevant source material and the ways in which it can shed light or complicate our understandings of this subject.